Reprising today’s @charlesfitz Tweetstorm:
1\ Some quick reactions to @satyanadella morning Microsoft missive (sprawling, like the company).
2\ A first step to answering the biggest question about the company: why does it exist beyond just perpetuating its past?
3\ Shift from vapid (realizing potential) or means (devices & services, cloud-first/mobile-first) to end (productivity) is long overdue.
4\ Company has been at a loss wrt mission since achieving BHAG of computer on every desk and in every home.
5\ Productivity is Microsoft’s core but still some awkward stretching to cover full portfolio
6\ Still waiting for major deviation – addition or deletion – from Ballmer’s Microsoft. Bing and Xbox not going away (and rightly so).
7\ HailStorm vision is back: individual as hub for all the technologies in their life. Should have done it a decade ago.
8\ Microsoft’s disastrous embrace of the ad economy remains unresolved (devalued personal computing franchise, got none of the upside).
9\ Privacy paeans weaker than Apple; lumping with security feels like afterthought. Privacy path fundamental question for company.
10\ Still no answers for the Windows business, Company must pivot from personal computer to personal computing.
11\ More changes coming soon, including probably some layoffs. Marketing rationalization has been deferred for long time.
12\ My preference is still to break the company up. Would unlock a lot of value.
13\ Satya continues to endear himself to literate press with literary references 😉
(Somehow periods seem more necessary here).
